


Seasons of Faith

by ivyspinners



Category: Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 00:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10628667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivyspinners/pseuds/ivyspinners
Summary: Belief and despair come in cycles.





	

There is a time and season for belief.

Luke Skywalker is nineteen and his world stretches horizon to horizon, a sea of sand. Stars glitter in the vast distance, a promise beyond words, and he dreams of it in between shooting down wampa rats, in between gathering the day’s precious water in too-light tanks. There’s a universe out there, welcoming. Luke dreams.

(The Empire finds him first.)

Luke Skywalker is twenty-one and starship fights light up the space between stars, soundless explosions that ripple in space. The Force links him to everything, to all; Leia shines bright and determined halfway across the galaxy, Han lights up, endless smirking fire, and he doesn’t know if they’re bright because of who they are, or because he loves them. Maybe both. They fight, and they’ll win. Luke dreams.

(The Empire find them first.)

Luke Skywalker is twenty three as his father’s chains burn into smoke, shattering under dark lightning. Hope saves the galaxy. Love, and hope, and family, anger banked beneath belief. There was strength in Aunt Beru’s patience, in his uncle’s unwavering, stubborn determination to gather water every day. Love ignites the stars, until they shine on peace. Luke dreams.

(The Empire waits, tattered ruins reforming along the edges of space.)

Luke Skywalker is fifty-three and his students flare like bright lights, banked embers that flare with emotion, like starbursts. This is the best he could ever be–acting as a bridge to the stars, for children who look up and dream. There’s hardship and sacrifice, but when he watches his nephew grow, stretching towards the sun like a sapling, it’s worth it.

(The First Order finds his nephew first.)

Luke’s world stretches horizon to horizon, a sea of deep blue. Stars glitter in the vast distance, a promise beyond words, and he closes his eyes to it, the reminder of guilt and hellfire. When solar flares erupt and scorch planets beyond repair, the Force ripples with dying cries. There are still, all these years later, so many dying cries, and sometimes those bursting stars are pulses of Force-lightning. His dreams are nightmares wrought at his hands.

The Jedi must end.

(Rey finds him first.)


End file.
